If you haven’t recently, take a look the lyrics from the late poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron’s radical, 1971 classic ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’. Also, catch a quick interview with him from 2010. Worth a walk through history and to hear his words directly. View it here.
More than anything, the last line speaks so loudly to what is happening NOW. I find it sad that it is taking so long for real change and I hope that we are much closer to ending racism, injustice, all the hate and senseless pain and killing. Check out the lyrics…
THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED (to view the song)
You will not be able to stay home, brother
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and
skip out for beer during commercials, because
The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
in four parts without commercial interruptions
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon blowing a bugle
And leading a charge by John Mitchell, General Abrams, and Spiro Agnew
To eat hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary
The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be brought to you by the Schaefer Award Theatre
And will not star Natalie Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs
The revolution will not make you look five pounds thinner, because
The revolution will not be televised, brother
There will be no pictures of you and Willie Mae pushing that shopping cart
down the block on the dead run
Or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32 on report from 29 districts
The revolution will not be televised
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers on the instant replay
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down brothers on the instant replay
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being run out of Harlem on a rail
with a brand new process
There will be no slow motion or still lifes of Roy Wilkins
Strolling through Watts in a red, black, and green liberation jumpsuit
that he has been saving for just the proper occasion
Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville Junction will
no longer be so damn relevant
And women will not care if Dick finally got down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow
Because Black people will be in the street looking for a brighter day
The revolution will not be televised
There will be no highlights on the eleven o’clock news and
no pictures of hairy armed women liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb or Francis Scott Keys
Nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom Jones, Johnny Cash, Engelbert Humperdinck,
or The Rare Earth
The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be right back after a message about a white tornado,
white lightning, or white people
You will not have to worry about a dove in your bedroom, the tiger in your tank,
or the giant in your toilet bowl
The revolution will not go better with Coke
The revolution will not fight germs that may cause bad breath
The revolution will put you in the driver’s seat
The revolution will not be televised
Will not be televised
Will not be televised
Will not be televised
The revolution will be no re-run, brothers
The revolution will be live
Wow, nearly 50 years ago this song was written. Thank you for your words Gil Scott-Heron. So much history and foresight in these lyrics.
Stay safe, keep protesting and demanding change and justice. And as November is rapidly approaching, we all have to VOTE!
Sandra
2022 Political Ponderings 